Life events

Question 1

Holmes and Rahe Social Readjustment Rating scale

Answer 1

• 43 life events in the past 2 years are rated using ‘stress’ iunits
• death of a spouse=100 units
• divorce= 73
• ranking according to the degree of association with mental difficulties in a sample and use this list to study other populations

Question 2

Brown and Harris Life events and Difficulties schedule

Answer 2

• life event are graded according to the inherent meaning of the events to the individual concerned
• LEDS

Question 3

Types of life events

Answer 3

• loss
• humiliation
• entrapment
• combined loss and humiliation events are more depressogenic than a threat or other individual types of event
• Humiliation events induce defeat and submission responses which may be directly related to depression
• humiliation is more strongly linked to depression than general anxiety
• danger predicts more anxiety than depression

Question 4

Entrance Life Events

Answer 4

• desirable life events
• number is comparable to depressed patients and controls
• depressed patients recall more stressful life events due to cognitive bias

Question 5

Kindling phenomenon

Answer 5

• ‘seizures beget seizures’- more seizures lower the seizure threshold
• those with recurrent depression have fewer preceding life events than those with the first episode of depression

Question 6

Genes and life events

Answer 6

• Kendler
• genetic vulnerability to depression itself could explain the occurence of more frequent stressful life events
• in a twins study, genetic liability to depression was associated with an increase in experiencing marital problems, divorce, job loss, serious illness etc
• individuals may select themselves into high-risk environments
• life events may be heritable

Question 7

Semi-structured interviews

Answer 7

• life events and difficulties scale- Brown & Harris

- interview for recent life events (Paykel)

Question 8

Life event scales

Answer 8

• social readjustment rating scale (Holmes and Rahe)
• Adverse childhood events scale
• Hassles and uplifts scale (Lazarus and Folkman)

Question 9

Brown and Harris vulnerability factors for depression

Answer 9

• studied women in hospital with depressive episode
  1. maternal loss
  2. lack of a confiding relationship
  3. greater than three children under the age of 14 at home
  4. unemployment
• can interact with “provoking agents” to increase the risk of depression.